annieb123
Written on Aug 8, 2020
The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne is a period murder mystery by Elsa Hart. Released 4th Aug 2020 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 352 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
This is an extremely well written and entertaining historical murder mystery set in the early years of the 18th century. The protagonist is an intelligent, determined, and logical amateur sleuth who has a deep and abiding sense of justice and wants to see the truth revealed about the murder of a renowned collector of ephemera.
The disparate plot threads intertwine more closely as the book progresses until they merge about 3/4ths of the way through. The beginning of the book was slow for me because of the necessary framework-building and background setup. It more than repaid my diligence for sticking with it. The world building and settings along with the interactions and societal background are all on point and well rendered. One of the biggest standouts for me with this book was the expert way the author managed to explore perception. Motivation from one character's perspective which seems perfectly logical to -them- may not appear so to characters from other classes or backgrounds and the author's ability to highlight both viewpoints was exemplary. The dialogue is well rendered and pitch perfect (and will be fairly archaic and formal to readers who prefer more modern mysteries).
The clues are found and sifted and the denouement is satisfying and well written. The ending of the book strongly suggests that this is the first book in a series. I'm looking forward to more adventures for Cecily and Meacan.
Four stars. Very well done.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.